In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 58

“Haha. You haven’t changed a bit, Aunt.”
Father laughed as if he had lost.
“Of course. How could an old man change so easily?”
Madam Sheshou also gave Father a playful look.
“Your brothers, they didn’t attend, did they?”
Viese and Laurels were not present at today’s banquet.
I had heard that they had been busy working on a new business together recently.
But no one yet knew what that business was.
Shananet wanted to come to the banquet together, but the twins had simultaneous fevers, so they couldn’t accompany her.
Instead, she sent a decorative button that would go well with the suit Father was wearing today.
“Haha, aren’t they busy people?”
Father answered as if it were nothing, but Madam Sheshou clicked her tongue.
“Your brother was rotten from childhood. And that foolish Laurels was busy chasing Viese, clinging to his coattails.”
“Was that so?”
“Yes. Viese was so greedy that he once dislocated his jaw trying to gobble up all the cookies given to you and Laurels in one bite. He’s a fellow who wouldn’t know if his stomach burst from greed.”
“Pfft!”
Oh, I laughed too loudly.
“Ahem, ahem!”
I quickly cleared my throat and pretended it wasn’t me, but Madam Sheshou’s gaze was sharp.
She was a lady who disliked rude and ill-mannered people as much as her fiery temper.
I felt sweat trickling down my back.
I quickly spoke to Father.
“Can I go look around the banquet hall, Father?”
“Hmm? Yes, our Tia must be bored.
Don’t go into dark places, and stay only within this banquet hall.”
“Yes, Father!”
I didn’t forget to politely bow to Madam Sheshou and walked away.
For now, it was a tactical retreat.
“Isn’t our Tia truly beautiful, Aunt?”
Looking at Gallahan, who still smiled like a boy in his early teens, Betrix Sheshou felt a slight sadness.
In their youth, Natalia and Betrix had an unusually close relationship.
Though they were sisters-in-law, a relationship that could often be awkward, the two were as close as biological sisters.
Natalia had left this world first, and her cherished face had blurred in memory, making her feel lonely.
But in Gallahan’s smiling face, Natalia’s gentle demeanor seemed to vividly come alive, almost like a lie.
It was true that she often worried if Gallahan, who had inherited Natalia’s gentle and quiet nature, would be alright among his strong-willed siblings.
“Being a doting parent is not a good look.”
“Is that so? But she’s so lovely…”
Affection dripped from Gallahan’s eyes as he looked at his daughter’s round head receding into the distance.
“It’s not just because she’s my daughter.
Tia is a truly smart child.
In fact, this dress she’s wearing today, Tia decorated it herself. She attached jewels and different fabrics as she wanted.”
“Oh, really?”
Betrix’s wrinkled eyes once again took in Florentia’s dress.
Even to her eyes, it was a very sophisticated dress with an alluring charm that drew attention.
She had even been about to ask for the name of the designer of that dress.
But to think that a child, barely ten years old, was the mastermind.
Madam Sheshou, who watched Florentia disappear into the balcony, said as if joking.
“It’s a relief she has an aesthetic sense; she doesn’t seem to have taken after her father.”
“A-Aunt! What’s wrong with me…?”
Instead of answering, Betrix scanned Gallahan from top to bottom with a displeased look.
“You, who were born with such a distinguished appearance, talk too much while only making so little use of it.”
Gallahan, his face slightly flushed, changed the subject back to Florentia.
“Everyone says Tia resembles me…”
“That child?”
Madam Sheshou chuckled.
“A soft person like you is fundamentally different from that child.”
“But she’s my daughter. If she doesn’t resemble me…”
“Shan, was it? That child’s mother’s name.”
Gallahan closed his mouth tightly.
It had been many years, but it was still a painful name.
“Yes. That child resembles her mother. Especially those resolute eyes.”
Eyes that were somehow calm, clear, and purposeful.
Putting everything else aside, they were not eyes a mere ten-year-old child should possess.
How could this soft-hearted Gallahan have raised such a child?
Madam Sheshou, too, felt an inward curiosity.
“Chesayu is not a very large territory. But it has large mountains and rivers nearby, and the land is fertile, so it should be enough for one family to live on.”
It sounded as if Chesayu was a small rural estate.
However, even before the Lambru Empire, it was a strategic transportation hub connecting the central and southern parts of the continent, and it was a large granary boasting perfect plains and a mild climate.
Sheshou had, in essence, given Gallahan a significant piece of land.
“Originally, that land was Natalia’s dowry to Lombardi. But it only remained in Sheshou because the former emperor did not want Lombardi’s territory to expand further.”
“I… didn’t know that.”
“Your father isn’t one to tell trivial things. Now that you have your own land, don’t be so self-conscious.”
Gallahan’s shoulder twitched slightly.
“It’s likely that Viese, being the eldest son, will become the next head of the family. So when the time comes, you should bring your daughter and come to Chesayu. The warm south would be better for a child to grow up in.”
“Truly… thank you, Aunt.”
Gallahan bowed his head deeply in gratitude.
Madam Sheshou’s voice, mixed with a chuckle, pierced his head.
“It’s not free.”
“…Pardon?”
“If you’re grateful, open a branch of Gallahan’s clothing store in Sheshou.”
Gallahan blinked.
“Sheshou, where clothing and textiles are more developed, would be more suitable than their land.
Don’t you think so?”
Gallahan couldn’t answer easily and
managed a difficult laugh, “Haha…”
***

I pretended to walk away, but kept watching Father and Madam Sheshou.
There was no need for me to needlessly examine the curtain patterns of the banquet hall or check how transparently the wine glasses were polished.
This meeting today was important.
It was obvious that the wealthy people from various regions, gathered under the pretext of Father’s medal ceremony, would covet a branch of Gallahan’s clothing store.
So, after carefully considering various factors, Sheshou was chosen as the most suitable candidate for a branch.
The reasons were simply twofold.
One was that it was a place where clothing and textiles were already developed, so it would be a good match for the ready-to-wear business. The other was due to the climatic conditions of the southern region where Sheshou was located.
The climate in the central part of the empire has little temperature variation throughout the four seasons and is mild.
The clothing store’s ready-to-wear clothes were made to suit this.
The excessively hot west or, conversely, the cold north have their own clothing styles, so if a clothing store were to open there, new clothes would have to be created.
However, in the south or east, where the climate is similar, the clothes can be sold as they are.
But the east has the disadvantage of many mountainous areas on the way, making it difficult to travel.
So, what remained was the south, and specifically, Sheshou, the center of the south.
Moreover, since she was a relative who cared for Father quite a bit, there was also the calculation that we might be able to save a little on taxes that had to be paid.
From a distance, the atmosphere seemed fortunately still good.
It was a moment when I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Father’s smiling face.
A hand suddenly reached out from behind the balcony, pulling me.
“Uh-oh?”
The touch was not painful and somewhat considerate, but I was startled nonetheless.
I instantly found myself on a dark balcony, away from the bright and splendid banquet hall.
“Hello.”
A soft, pre-pubescent voice came from behind me.
Hair as black as the night sky, almost indistinguishable, and eyes that glowed dark red in the darkness.
“Hello, Perez.”
When I called his name, he smiled at me.
Judging by the slight lift of his lips and the subtle curve of his eyes, Perez seemed to be smiling quite brightly.
“Tia.”
“You startled me by suddenly pulling me.”
“Sorry.”
His quick apologies were the same as before.
He had changed a lot.
The small and thin physique that made him look younger than his age was gone, and now he had grown considerably taller.
Standing next to a grown man, his head would reach about shoulder height.
“Long time no see. Have you been well?”
He looked down at me and asked.
Just then, the moon emerged from behind the clouds.
Perez’s fair skin glowed beautifully in the moonlight falling from the sky.
Wow, his skin is really good.
His smooth face, without a single blemish, looked like the epitome of a well-fed and well-living teenager in a good environment.
I felt proud.
A smile naturally appeared on my face.
“As I said in the letter. I’ve been well. How about you? Is palace life not too hard?”
“…Are you worried about me?”
He said in a subtly pleased tone.
“Of course.”
He was the future Crown Prince who had helped me secure a place in the Imperial Palace.
“As you said, Tia. I’m eating well and learning well. Though sometimes it’s hard.”
“Hard? Is the swordsmanship teacher making it hard for you?”
I had heard about Perez’s swordsmanship teacher from Catherine.
She was worried because he was a type who trained very strictly, and she was even more worried that Perez was enduring such difficult lessons without a single complaint.
“It’s not that. It’s just sometimes…” Perez’s eyes turned to me.
And he stared silently.
“Sometimes?”
“No. Earlier, did I do well?”
He asked me, not properly answering my question.
“Earlier?”
“When I entered with His Majesty the Emperor. I endured a lot.”
Perez replied.
“I was glad to see you after a long time, but I didn’t acknowledge you. Because you said others shouldn’t know we know each other. So I endured it.”
Surely, he’s asking for praise right now?
“So, I did well, right?”
He’s asking for praise, yes, he is.
His appearance seemed fully grown, but
Was his heart still that of a child?
I swallowed a sigh and looked at Perez.
His sparkling eyes, even in the poor lighting, only looked at me.
I really wanted to check his backside to see if he had a black fluffy tail.
“Bend down.”
I gestured to Perez.
“Huh?”
A big question mark appeared on his face, as if he didn’t understand my words.
“Come here.”
I wiggled my finger again.
Only then did Perez understand my meaning, let out a small ‘Ah!’ and slowly bent at the waist.
His black, shiny hair drew closer to me.
In fact, it would be a big deal if anyone saw it.
Perez, a member of the imperial family, bowing his head to me.
But he seemed to have no such inhibitions.
“You did well.”
I firmly stroked Perez’s head.
“You did very well, Perez.”
His eyes softened.